For school · private note of intent
One day a month.
Real software work.
Full cooperation with school.
Written for Mr Merrit and Lewis’s school team — so you can see exactly what I am asking for, why, and how we would work with the school, not around it.
I would like Lewis to spend one day per month out of school, working with me in the real company — Tyneside Software and the wider Tyneside group — alongside professional software work, not on a side hobby.
The aim is to give him:
Lewis is 13. I want this paired with clear in-school objectives and a high degree of cooperation with you and the school.
Lewis is incredibly bright. He routinely scores top grades. Early in this project he built a full games shelf in one night, completely and 100% by himself, from a standing start, aged 12 — that was a first day into the work, not his ongoing role. The monthly days I am asking for are in the real company: software, sites, and how the business actually runs.
He finds behaviour regulation, impulse control, authority, and emotional regulation hard in a school setting. He has ADHD and Autism.
He has also been through significant trauma, including many years of unstable environment in the run-up to his mam’s death by suicide in 2025. That context is not an excuse — it is part of understanding what he needs to thrive.
A day a month where he can channel his passions constructively — not as a free pass from school, but as a complementary environment: real work, real standards, real pride in shipping something.
I believe this would do him the world of good — especially when it is planned with the school, with shared goals and open communication.
I am not asking to remove Lewis from education or undermine classroom expectations. I am asking for a structured, rare, high-value day that we design together.
Who knows — maybe we could even do some work for the school (small tools, websites, classroom helpers) so Lewis sees service and professionalism inside a real company setting.
Lewis and my two daughters are why I am building Tyneside at all. I want to give all three the best I can — capability, dignity, and a future that is not only exam results on a page.
For Lewis specifically: a part-time path, a stake in something real as he earns it, and learning alongside people who take software seriously — while staying in full partnership with the adults who support him at school.
The games shelf on tyneside.games is not what Lewis will be working on day to day. It is evidence from one night early into the project — not a toy portfolio polished by adults. That is the standard of raw ability I want to channel into proper company work — and the kind of outcome I believe we can teach other newbies, carefully and kindly.
See that one-night proof →I would welcome a conversation about how to make one day a month work for Lewis and for the school. I am flexible on structure; I am firm on cooperation and care.
WhatsApp Michael · +44 7411 949215